1. What can Machine Learning Do and
What Does It Mean for the Economy?
Erik Brynjolfsson
MIT
Forum on Global Productivity
OECD, Sydney
June 21, 2019

2. The Industrial Revolution Bent the Curve of History
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Watt Steam Engine, 1775

3. AI is a GPT
GPTs Drive Economic Growth
1. Pervasive
• Key capabilities of classification, labeling, perception,
prediction and diagnosis are core to broad range of tasks,
occupations and industries (Brynjolfsson, Rock and
Syverson, 2017)
2. Able to be improved on over time
• Essence of machine learning is improving over time
(Brynjolfsson & Mitchell, 2017)
• Overcoming “Polanyi’s Paradox”
3. Able to spawn complementary innovations
• Perception (esp. vision, voice recognition) and cognition
(problem solving) are building blocks that drive
combinatorial innovation
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4. The most G of all GPTs
“Our goal is to solve
intelligence, and then use
that to solve the other
problems in the world”
- Demis Hassabis,
Google DeepMind
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5. The Second Wave of the Second Machine Age:
Machines That Learn
Artificial Intelligence
•A set techniques used to try to imitate human intelligence
Machine Learning
•Using large amounts of data, machines learn without
being explicitly programmed
Deep Learning
•A type of machine learning that uses deep neural
networks

6. We’ve Crossed an Important Threshold
ImageNet Visual Recognition Challenge
Accuracy of AI system
human
source: The AI Index 6
machine

7. Speech Recognition
Recognize speech from phone call audio
Switchboard HUB5’00 dataset
human
Accuracy of ML system
source: http://aiindex.org/
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8. Supervised Learning for Image Recognition
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9. Machine Translation Boosts Trade on eBay by 11%
)
• Orange: U.S. exports to LatAm
• Blue: U.S. exports to non- LatAm
• Vertical lines: Introduction of eBay translation
• Estimated effect: 11%
Source: Brynjolfsson, Hui and Liu, “Can Machine
Learning Affect International Trade?” 2018
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10. Source: Brynjolfsson, Erik, and Andrew McAfee. "The Business of Artificial Intelligence." Harvard Business Review (2017).
Most of the recent progress in
machine learning involves mapping
from a set of inputs to a set of outputs
using .
Problem Solving

11. Which Tasks Will Be Done by Machine Learning?
We create a “Suitability for Machine Learning”
(SML) rubric of 21 questions
• We apply it to 2,059 Detailed Work Activities in
O*NET, 18,112 occupation-specific tasks, and
950 occupations (weighted by task importance)
• Questions are rated on five point scale from
“strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”
• Each DWA is scored by 10 different people
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Brynjolfsson, Mitchell and Rock, “What Can
Machines Learn and What Does It Means for
Occupations and the Economy, AEA P&P, 2018.

12. 1. Task information is recorded or recordable by computer
2. Task feedback is immediate
3. It is okay to make mistakes when completing this task
4. It is not important that the task is done by a human
5. Task does not require complex reasoning
6. Task matches labels to concepts, predictions, or actions
7. Task involves a brief, simple, highly-structured conversation with a customer or someone else
Rubric Questions
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13. 8. Task is repeated frequently
9. There is no need to explain decisions when doing the task
10. The Task is about choosing between multiple predetermined options
11. Long-term planning is not required to successfully complete this task
12. The task requires working with text data
13. The task requires working with image or video data
14. The task requires working with speech data
15. The task requires working with other types of data
Rubric Questions
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14. 16. The task can be completed in one second or less
17. Each instance, completion, or execution of the task is similar to other instances in how it is done
18. Practicing the task to get better is easy
19. The task is primarily about predicting something
20. The task is part of this occupation (check 1)
21. The task output is not error tolerant (check 2)
Rubric Questions
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15. O*Net: Tasks Done by Radiologists (27 tasks)
Sample Tasks (out of 27 tasks):
1. Provide advice on types or quantities of radiology equipment needed to
maintain facilities.
2. Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous
transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy
catheter placement.
3. Administer or maintain conscious sedation during and after procedures.
4. Interpret images using computer-aided detection or diagnosis systems.
5. Develop treatment plans for radiology patients.
6. Treat malignant internal or external growths by exposure to radiation from
radiographs (x-rays), high energy sources, or natural or synthetic radioisotopes.
7. Conduct physical examinations to inform decisions about appropriate
procedures.
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16. O*Net: Tasks Done by Radiologists (27 tasks)
Sample Tasks (out of 27 tasks):
1. Provide advice on types or quantities of radiology equipment needed to
maintain facilities.
2. Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous
transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy
catheter placement.
3. Administer or maintain conscious sedation during and after procedures.
4. Interpret images using computer-aided detection or diagnosis systems.
5. Develop treatment plans for radiology patients.
6. Treat malignant internal or external growths by exposure to radiation from
radiographs (x-rays), high energy sources, or natural or synthetic radioisotopes.
7. Conduct physical examinations to inform decisions about appropriate
procedures.
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17. O*Net: Tasks Done by Radiologists (27 tasks)
Sample Tasks (out of 27 tasks):
1. Provide advice on types or quantities of radiology equipment needed to
maintain facilities.
2. Perform interventional procedures such as image-guided biopsy, percutaneous
transluminal angioplasty, transhepatic biliary drainage, or nephrostomy
catheter placement.
3. Administer or maintain conscious sedation during and after procedures.
4. Interpret images using computer-aided detection or diagnosis systems.
5. Develop treatment plans for radiology patients.
6. Treat malignant internal or external growths by exposure to radiation from
radiographs (x-rays), high energy sources, or natural or synthetic radioisotopes.
7. Conduct physical examinations to inform decisions about appropriate
procedures.
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18. ML will affect all groups, especially lower wage workers
SML vs. Wage Percentile
Economists
Cashiers
Pilots
Regression of SML on Wages
Slope: -0.0034, t-stat: 18.5
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19. Regions vary in ML exposure
SML Standardized Score by Metro Area
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20. How does SML vary by industry?
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21. Some firms are more vulnerable
Coef: 0.0009 (t: 1.5)
SML of Firms is uncorrelated
with their Market Value
(for now!)
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22. When will we see the pay-off from ML?
• Key insight
• ML is a GPT
• When will we see the pay-off from ML
1. GPTs require an increase in intangible capital stock
2. Intangible capital stock takes time to have an impact
3. GPTs may lower measured productivity initially
4. This creates a Productivity J-Curve
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23. Growth J-Curve

24. Key Takeaways
1. ML is human or superhuman in some tasks, but not all tasks
2. Suitability for Machine Learning (SML) can be assessed via our rubric
3. ML is different from earlier types of automation (even digital)
• We cannot simply extrapolate past trends
• SML is cuts across all wages and skill-levels:
• Few occupations will be fully automated
• Few are immune
4. SML can be mapped by geography, firms, industry and job clusters.
5. Reorganization of jobs will be required to unleash ML
6. In the meantime, we will experience a Productivity J-Curve
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25. Other work in this stream
1. Brynjolfsson and Mitchell (2017). What Can Machine Learning Do? Workforce Implications. Science.
2. Mitchell and Brynjolfsson (2017). Track How Technology is Transforming Work, Nature.
3. Brynjolfsson and McAfee (2017) The Business of AI, Harvard Business Review
4. Brynjolfsson, Rock, and Syverson (2018a). ”AI and the Modern Productivity Paradox” in Agrawal, Gans and Goldfarb, ed
Economics of AI: An Agenda, NBER.
5. Brynjolfsson, Rock, and Syverson (2018b). ”The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement GPTs” NBER WP.
6. Brynjolfsson, Mitchell and Rock (2018a). What Can Machines Learn and What does It Mean for the Economy? American
Economic Association Papers and Proceedings.
7. Brynjolfsson, Mitchell and Rock (2018b). Machine Learning and Occupational Change. Coming soon!
8. Rock (2018). Engineering Value: The Returns to Technological Talent and Investments in Artificial Intelligence. Coming
soon!
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26. To learn more, visit:
http://digital.mit.edu/erik
http://digital.mit.edu/ide
http://secondmachineage.com
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